Soccer supporters who support some of the world’s most prestigious clubs have already poured millions of dollars into the growing fan token industry.
According to the BBC, the world’s largest football clubs have made a lot of money off of fan tokens.
According to the BBC, “analysis commissioned by BBC News suggests that more than £260 million ($350 million) has been spent on virtual currencies.”
According to the BBC, 24 clubs from various European leagues have announced or are planning to launch fan tokens. Eight of the clubs are members of the Premier League in England, which is often regarded as the most prominent soccer league in the world.
Dissecting fan tokens
The majority of the teams studied are now issuing fan tokens, which are effectively club-specific cryptocurrencies.
Others, such as Manchester City, are selling NFTs as well.
Socios, a company that provides a platform for the initial sale and exchange of these customized cryptocurrencies, has been at the forefront of the growing trend.
Socios apparently told the BBC that it has sold between $270 million and $300 million in coins to yet, without specifying how much of that money went directly to the clubs.
According to the BBC, Lazio, Manchester City, Porto, and Santos appear to produce the most sales. However, the value of Manchester City and Lazio-affiliated tokens have plummeted the most since their inception.
What do the fans think?
Many football fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with these fan tokens.
“My knowledge of the crypto market is shaky, to say the least, and I’m probably indicative of a vast number of ordinary football fans who aren’t crypto traders,” Sue Watson, a West Ham fan, told the BBC.
“Some people are going to make a lot of money off of it—but it’s almost certainly not going to be the typical football fan on the street,” football writer Martin Calladine said.
Regardless of how some football fans feel, the rise of fan tokens is part of a larger trend involving crypto and sports.
Across the pond, NFTs and the broader crypto market have found a home in sports, fueled by high-profile endorsements from some of America’s biggest stars, including Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Steph Curry.
